Hush Puppy
by Zabbie Q
Summary: A battle of the wits arises when the Loonatics must track down Mastermind, but they do not call her a diabolical genius for nothing. Can they outwit her without losing their necks in the process?
1. A Routine CheckUp

This takes place after the end of the second season.

Disclaimer – I own neither "Loonatics Unleashed" nor the characters. If you don't know what a hush puppy is, well, it is a delicious creation of fried bread. There is actually a literary reason for naming the story thus, but I shall let you find out in a different chapter.

XXXXX

"Identification recognized," the feminine metallic voice responded after it had scanned the identification card, received the special code, analyzed fingerprints and facial features, and evaluated a voice scan. "Proceed."

The metallic doors swished open, and the tall, chestnut-haired prison guard led Tech E. Coyote down one of the several halls of heavily guarded cells within the maximum security facility. The coyote barely noticed the different malicious faces that peered out at him from different openings. He ignored the taunts, and he hardly batted an eye at some of the comments from the individuals who recognized him. What did he care? He was not the one locked up.

They reached the end of the hall, and once again went through the process of scanning the guard—Ralph was his name—before the doors of the lift opened. They stepped on and proceeded downwards.

Tech stood silently as they passed level after level. He mentally went over his checklist of the tools he had brought for the routine check-up. There was no need to be anxious—it was not as if any of the prisoners would escape and throttle him while he was looking over the mechanisms of their cells. Yet there was a growing dread which he had to harden himself against—a dread which had nothing to do with protecting his person.

Ralph the guard cleared his throat, diverting the coyote's thoughts. "This is a big assignment, I guess," he began awkwardly, "especially if they called you in all the way from Blanc, Mr. Coyote."

"Not too big," Tech replied, turning his head. He felt his muscles twitch beneath his green and black mask, but he fought against that feeling within him. "I will probably be done in two hours," he added nonchalantly.

"Oh… Neat." The guard pushed up his glasses as if that would help him find something interesting to say.

Tech was not particularly interested in conversation, but the look of nervousness on Ralph's visage was so pathetic that he took pity on the guard. "Have you worked here very long?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," Ralph replied eagerly. "It's been about… eight years now. A lot of my family have been police officers and security guards," he added.

"That's certainly interesting," the coyote responded politely. He looked at the controls of the lift. Only three floors to go.

The lift slowed and halted, and the doors opened again. Tech and Ralph stepped out, and the guard led the Loonatic to the door of a cell. The controls scanned Ralph thoroughly before it permitted him access. Ralph entered first, but Tech had already seen what was in the cell. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and crossed the threshold.

The room itself had been made like all the other cells in the prison—but one wall had been knocked down to annex a second cell, and the extra door sealed off. Bunks, chains, and everything usually found in a cell had been removed. In the center of the cell, a large sphere sat in place—one half of its inners occupied by the generator. The generator itself was half a sphere, flat end facing up, and shielded by a nonmetallic platform. Covering most of the platform's surface were several waist-high stacks of books and reading materials.

A short woman sat upon one of the stacks, flipping through a book on wormholes. Black hair formed a semi-circle around most of her bald scalp, which concealed a cranium unusually enormous for a human woman. She did not look up as Tech and Ralph came in, and Tech was just as willingly to go unnoticed. He came to the controls of the miniature prison and started running scans on the system.

"Every dog has its day," the woman suddenly commented.

Tech checked the food dispensing mechanisms. Everything seemed to be in order.

"I've been instructed that you may not speak while Mr. Coyote is here, Mastermind," Ralph barked, his nervousness replaced by his professionalism. If Tech had not been making small talk with on the lift, he would not have recognized the two attitudes as belonging to the same person.

"You must have felt proud to have worked out so many problems in my underground prison," she continued in a sing-song voice, completely ignoring the guard. "It's just like a dog to bury everything he comes into contact with."

Energy level checked out. Now to look inside. Tech pulled out his screw driver and began to take off the plastic side of the control systems.

"Kind of like old times, huh, road-runner-breath?" Mastermind quipped. Tech refused to look at her, but she maintained her one-side conversation. "Remember when we used to work on your prototype of the containment facilities? Of course, you do. You remember your entire collection of little dog toys, don't you, Fido?"

She laughed, and her voice sounded almost wistful. "We had a quite a few close shaves. I thought we would have to resort to eating each other the first time we were trapped. I noticed that you drooled whenever you saw a bit of leg."

Tech slammed his screw driver back into its holder, and he attached a small flashlight to his eye guard, turned it on, and studied the wiring system.

"Aww, you don't remember that, do you? And I thought you were the sensitive one!"

Tech bit down the growl that threatened to erupt. He was not going to be a player in her little game.

She was not going to get to him.

XXXXX

"Now, you're sure this is not going us to fry to a crisp," Mallory Casey asked as her tutor flipped on the controls.

"Not unless you touch the energy field," Tech replied matter-of-factly.

They sat side by side in an abandoned room of Acme Tech Institute as the coyote adjusted the settings of the containment chamber—a short, dark-haired girl and a skinny grad student. Tech did a quick scan of the system. Everything seemed good, for now.

The brown-furred coyote pulled his goggles over his eyes and glanced at the young prodigy beside him. Her dark eyes were focused behind a pair of glasses as she studied the circular metallic "generator" which would soon make a prison. For the past few weeks he had been tutoring Mallory in various courses, and he had liked the results he was already getting. She was amazingly gifted—she could grasp quantum physics better than most juniors at the college as well as take apart various machines and put them together again. That was why he had asked her to help him test his prototype for a security facility.

He watched as she absent-mindedly pushed back a loose strand of hair that had fallen from her tight bun. She bit her purple-colored lip as she vainly tried to look in control.

He chuckled at her expression. "_I'm_ more likely to get hurt than you, Mallory," he pointed out.

Mallory rolled her eyes and gave him a small smile. "Well, we don't want that either," she stated. "I would be very lonely without my favorite tutor."

Tech averted his eyes, finding the blinking green light of the controls unusually absorbing. "Well—ah, ah, that's what these tests are for—uh, to make sure no one gets hurt—uh, that is, make sure no one _outside_ the chamber is hurt; the prisoner inside can get hurt—no, uh..."

Mallory laughed, and Tech quickly adjusted the controls. Immediately a blue energy field, like a half-spherical bubble, appeared over the platform that rested upon the "generator". The generator itself was six foot in diameter and produced a field tall enough for Tech to have stood in. Tech turned on the outer shield. Tech checked the readings a few times to make sure there were no instrument errors. He turned to Mallory with a grin. "So far, so good."

Mallory nodded and leaned in closer to study the readings, and Tech awkwardly scooted away, glad that her eyes were on the screen. "Energy field has not penetrated the shield. Temperature is stable," she read out aloud. She tapped the screen. "I guess there's nothing left to do but…"

"Yeah," Tech laughed nervously. Neither of them moved.

His instinct reminded him that he did not like pain, but he knew he could never show this invention to anyone if it could accidentally harm whoever inside it. Finally, he punched in the code, and the energy field dropped. "Here goes nothing."

Mallory cringed, but Tech could not keep his nerves while looking at her. He stood and walked swiftly to the middle of the platform of the generator. He paused a moment and quickly sat down, hugging his knees to his chest. "Proceed," he ordered.

Reluctantly, Mallory flipped on the energy field and looked at her watch. "Five seconds… Ten seconds…"

Tech had a fleeting thought of what this would do to his insurance premiums, but he quickly stamped it down. One minute… Two minutes… Five... Seven...

"Ten!" Mallory turned off the energy shield, and Tech sighed. "Are you cooked, Tech?"

"Not all," the coyote replied, forcing a smile. "Other than my insides, the temperature level has not seemed to have fluctuated."

"The data is encouraging," Mallory observed. A grin of relief betrayed her, and she jumped to her feet. "It worked, Tech!" she cried, leaping onto the platform.

What happened next Tech could not explain. Mallory might have bumped the controls when she raced to her tutor, or there might have been a glitch in the system. The coyote had barely time to react to Mallory's gesture of congratulations before they were surrounded by a blue translucent field of energy.

XXXXXX

Four hours later they were still waiting for the custodian to come by. They had already talked about the weather and how to control it, classes, schedules, computer programs, and several other topics. They had already played "Finish that Formula" and imaginary 3-D chess. If he had not been trapped inside a holding cell with no food or water to speak of, Tech might have said he was enjoying himself. He did not often find companions who enjoyed discussing subatomic particles, but Mallory Casey relished the topic. She even made several jokes about quarks, and he found them humorous. Their acquaintanceship had not previously revealed the fullness of her companionable side, but Tech found that he could almost ignore the thirst that was building up when she began talking about black holes.

Tech stretched his limbs and scratched his back through the orange fabric of his turtleneck, all the while wishing he had made the cell larger. Though the platform was six foot in diameter and had enough room for the two short companions, Tech and Mallory kept close together in the center. It was a familiarity they would not have ordinarily attempted, and Tech was glad he had taken a shower that morning.

As Mallory began telling him more about her life's work of amplification of brain waves, Tech played with his goggles and polished them for the umpteenth time. Mallory and he sat side-by-side, facing each other, and in their conversation they had accidentally fogged up the other's eye ware on several occasions. Mallory had long abandoned her glasses, but Tech preferred to wear his goggles at different points.

"So, tell me, Mallory," Tech began when she had paused for breath, "what interested you in creating a brain wave amplifier in the first place?"

Mallory crossed her ankles, and the happy gleam in her eyes dimmed. She sighed wistfully. "Well, Tech, you might think it's crazy--a lot people have told me I'm silly but… well …" She looked so uncomfortable that he began to wonder if this was a good subject after all. Mallory at last cleared her throat. "I've… I've always been told that I'm smart and that I would be a scientist or a world leader some day. Yet… well, my little brother was born without the luxury of being a child prodigy—in fact, he has special needs."

"I'm sorry," Tech answered immediately, slightly taken aback.

"Don't be," she replied with a skillful shrug, as if she was used to that response. "He's a very capable boy, no matter what _they_ say," she added. A cloud covered her visage, but it vanished quickly. Mallory bit her lip and lowered her eyes.

"When we were little," she continued after a pause, "I always heard people say that he was different, and some of the kids we grew up around were always teasing him. I was always told that I was a prodigy, and I can remember wanting to be able to take some my brain power and knowledge and put it inside of him." She clasped her hands together, and Tech could see that they soon turned white. "Brain wave amplification, though, would probably be more effective, don't you think?" she asked quietly.

"No doubt about it," Tech replied, but he found himself nearly tongue-tied. He would not have thought of this complexity if one had asked him to describe Mallory that morning. She had always been a get-to-work individual in their tutoring sessions, and they had rarely talked of their lives outside of the institute. She was brilliant, of course, and she was amiable, but he had privately thought she was conceited whenever she had mentioned her plan of brain wave amplification in the past.

"Several inventors had noble causes when they made their contributions to society," he managed to say at last. "There's no reason for you to be different."

"You… you really think it's noble?" she squeaked, raising her head. Hope--and gratitude?--sparkled in her eyes.

Tech nodded; his own green eyes were serious. "Absolutely," he said. "You see a need, and you want to fix it. Edison would have applauded you."

Mallory beamed, and she lowered her eyes again. "Tech," she said slowly, "may I ask you a… silly question?"

Tech leaned forward. "The only silly questions are the unasked ones," he said kindly.

Mallory shyly twiddled her thumbs together. "Do you… do you like me—as a friend?"

Tech thought about it. He had a professional interest in her before, but it took four hours trapped inside a dangerous confinement chamber to reveal this side of her. It was almost as if he had found his intellectual equal--"almost," he added to himself. Still, he rather hoped that she could be like this whenever they were together. "I think I do," he said at last.

"I think of you as a friend, too."

Tech looked away, pretending to be interested in the ceiling. "Of course, you do. Anyone else would have been bored to tears by now."

"You're not boring at all!" Mallory protested, sounding genuinely astonished. "You're the only person ever to laugh at my beta decay joke."

"Really?" It was Tech's turn to be surprised. "But that was classic!"

"I'm glad you think so," she said quietly. She was silent for a moment or two, and then she shifted her weight and tucked her feet behind her. Mallory sat up straight upon her heels and looked him in the eye. "I have a confession to make, Tech," she said seriously. "When you told my professor that you would tutor me, well, I was hoping you would do it. I had already looked up what I could find about you after he suggested that you help me."

"I would have too," Tech replied, not sure he was following her. "You might have been working with a lunatic."

"Yes, that's true," she agreed. "But I… I wanted you to tutor me because—well, you're really smart."

"So I've heard a few hundred times," he answered, only half joking.

Mallory smiled. She rested her hands upon her bare knees, fingers gripping the hem of her short pants, and she tilted her head forward. He suddenly noticed how close she was to him, and he leaned back politely. "Well, Tech, I'm glad you think of me as your friend, but… but I want to be more than just a friend."

"I think the temperature levels are unstable," he said quickly. He grabbed the cuff of his turtleneck and began to fan himself. "Do you feel warm?"

Mallory blinked. "No," she said. She laid two fingers upon his snout. "Your nose is wet."

"So, it is," he laughed weakly, brushing her hand away. He tried to scoot away from her as inconspicuously as possible, but she merely inched closer to him.

Mallory folded her hands together. "Look, Tech, I know this is a lot to ask—and you probably already have one. I would be surprised if you didn't—a genius like you ought to have one."

"How long do you think we've been in here?" he asked. "I left my watch by the controls."

"Tech, would you let me finish?" Mallory's pale face pinked. "I'm nervous enough as it is."

Tech nodded and swallowed dryly. He glanced at the energy field, estimating his chances of breaking through without nuking all of his vital organs.

Mallory squared her small shoulders and raised her head. "You're not just a genius, but you're a nice guy as well. I'm going to risk looking like an utter fool. Well, Tech, I--I want to be your—your—" she faltered, but took a deep breath before blurting out, "I want to be your lab partner!"

"Mallory, ah, ah, I'm, uh…" He paused and blinked. He blinked again. "What was that?"

"I want to be your lab partner," she squeaked, less sure of herself.

Tech wrinkled his brow. "Mallory, we don't even have the same classes together. How could you work with me in the chem. Lab when you're--"

"I don't mean _that_ kind of lab partner," she interrupted, waving the idea off. "I meant your personal lab time--when you work on your inventions."

Tech digested this, and he looked at her doubtfully. "You're just a little youn--well, maybe not, but…" He sighed. "Mallory, I'm flattered, really, but I just don't need a lab partner right now."

"But you know more about electricity and machinery than I do," she protested, leaning forward passionately. "And you're a lot smarter than I am--besides, I could help you. I can take notes better than most secretaries, and I can understand what you say better than most people, and--"

Tech raised his hand and silenced her. "Mallory," he said as friendlily as he could, "I'm flattered, but I don't need a lab partner _or_ an assistant. I'm still trying to finish my senior thesis, you know."

Mallory sighed, and her shoulders slumped. She was silent for a long moment before she said, "I understand." She put on her glasses and turned her back to him, shamefaced.

Tech tried to find something to say, but he could not think of anything that would ease the awkward silence between them. He sighed after a moment and looked down at his green pant legs. "If… If it means that much to you, we… we could do a trial run for a week." An idea sparked within his mind. "And if you want, I could help you with your brain wave--_oof!_"

Tech was cut off as Mallory's thin body collided with his. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his back connected with the platform. "Oh, thank-you! You don't know how much this means to me!" she cried, squeezing him tightly.

"I can guess," he replied in a strangled voice. Beneath the weight of her body, Tech suddenly noticed that her hair smelled of honey and ginseng.

There then came a sound which Tech had already started to dread in the back of his mind. It was so clear and so sudden that, years later, Tech could recall it perfectly. It was a sound that often made him cringe when he recalled it.

"Ahem!"

The two companions looked toward the door, and they could see the uniformed figure of the institute's custodian. Even from the confinement chamber Tech could see his disapproving gaze. Tech's face grew hot under his fur as he and Mallory scrambled to their feet.

"You're here!" he exclaimed, stepping forward. "Mallory and I have been trapped in here for hours and we've been waiting for you to get here."

"I see you two weren't bored," the custodian replied.

Tech gulped. "Look, get us out of here, and I'll explain everything. You have to go to the--_eeh!_" He had started forward, hand gesturing towards the controls. Yet his right foot had fallen asleep and did not want to cooperate. Tech stumbled, hand-outreached, into the energy field.

XXXXX

"Remember how you zapped yourself in your own confinement chamber? You got quite a shock, but you weren't hospitalized. Such a pity." Mastermind heaved a sigh.

All the wires seemed to be working. He replaced the plastic side and started to return the screws.

"Are you leaving?" Mastermind asked, pretending to be hurt. "You haven't spoken a single thing to me, Fido. One would think you didn't like me."

He dropped one of the screws, and he quickly searched for it. He knew she was smirking, but he decided that he would not care.

"If you speak to me, I'll give you a biscuit, pooch," Mastermind cooed.

There it was! He inserted the screw into place and twisted it in. Soon the control pad was shut. Tech neatly gathered his tools, fixing his screwdriver into its proper position, and stood. He heard her move closer, but he turned his head without a glance at Mastermind.

"I'm ready to go," he told Ralph. Ralph nodded and opened the door, once again going through the several security procedures.

"Tech," she called after him, "how's Matty?"

The coyote stopped in his tracks and slowly turned. Mastermind was pressed against the sphere of her prison; her green-tinted eyes were filled with apprehension and a care that seemed genuine. Villain that she was, he could still find pity for her. "He was fine the last time I saw him," he said, shrugging. "I haven't been able to visit him much since I became a crime-fighter, but your step-cousins are taking care of him."

Mastermind's eyes fell. "I was afraid of that." She turned her back to him and slumped down to the floor of the platform. Her ponytail lay like a defeated snake upon the elevated rim of her cell. She was so downcasted, he was tempted to promise her that he would--"but no," Tech thought.

The door had opened, and Ralph had already stepped out first. Tech moved to follow.

"See you later, Hush Puppy."

He halted right in the center of the door. His blood boiled and froze in quick, alternating cycles, and his chest tightened. His pride screamed at him to whirl around and to tell her to shut up, that she wasn't funny, that she had to come up with better material to taunt him--anything. Yet his sense told him that she had received enough of a victory when he had stopped walking.

Tech stepped out of the doorway, and the metallic doors once again shut.

XXXXX

A/N: I would have loved to have left the first chapter there, but I felt I needed to add this note. Mallory might not be 100 percent in character during the past story, but I think that, considering we only see Mallory for a limited amount of time before she becomes Mastermind, my use of literary license is appropriate.

This _is_ going somewhere, by-the-way.


	2. Please Reply

The half-spherical platform rolled with a purpose down the hall; the several men firing their guns now scattered, avoiding the bone-crushing death weapon. One glasses-wearing guard managed to press himself against a closed door and narrowly missed the runaway machine. Cleared, now, he jumped out, firing his gun in the direction from whence the platform had come. Green blasts shot at him from a distance, searching for his chest.

A green bolt caught him in the shoulder. His mouth stretched opened in a cry of pain as he fell to the floor. The green blast continued to fire above him but soon stopped as their shooter approached the unconscious prison guard.

The animated machine moved steadily down the hall; its robotic arm remained raised, ready for combat. It passed the guard, casting out a cable at the still figure and pulling the limped man to its own back without once slowing down. The moving weapon clamped on, following its rolling partner. The robotized contraption itself was trailed by a food dispensing cart, which obediently carried the short, dark-haired woman.

The hologram froze, and Tech could see Mastermind's smug features as clearly as if she had been in the council room herself. "I don't understand it," he frowned, wrinkling his eyebrows behind his black mask. "I checked the containment facilities myself a month ago, and everything was fine."

To his right there came a snort. "Well, that's what you say about everything, isn't it?" Danger Duck cracked. "I think ol' Techie needs to start thinking about retirement."

Across from Tech, Ace Bunny studied the footage from the security tape. His blue eyes narrowed in thought as he leaned against the circular table. "I think Tech has a long way to go before he starts planning to leave." He pointed a yellow finger at the image. "That's the most secure prison in the solar system. There's no way she could have escaped by herself."

Two seats away from the Loonatics' leader, Lexi Bunny leaned back in her chair and studied Ace. "You think it could have been an inside job?"

"Well," Rev Runner interjected from his place between the two rabbits, "you have to wonder who would trust Mastermind to keep any deal she might have made. Though, theoretically, there still could have been a failure that Tech missed and resulted in her escaping from yet another of his prisons."

"Let's try to keep a realistic perspective on this, Rev," the coyote sniffed.

The roadrunner, however, was not fazed. "Well, it is quite _possible_ that there was a failure, and I'm just saying that we can't overlook that fact. You may see that--"

Ace, however, was not interested in any more arguments. "Hold on there, guys," he ordered. "However she escaped, she's escaped, and we got t' find the old melon head and the guard she captured."

"I'll connect to the base on Acmetropolis," Tech offered, "and have the computer run a scan of the city. She can't have gone far." Slam grunted a question on the coyote's left, but Tech shrugged. "I don't know if she's going to hurt the guard," he confessed. "I don't think she's ever kidnapped anyone before, so, who knows what's going to happen to Ralph?"

"I can think of a few things," Lexi interjected darkly.

"We should still set up procedures for hostage rescue," Ace declared, rising to his feet. He turned to the roadrunner on his right. "Rev, get a list of everyone who has been in and out of Mastermind's cell. If there has been an inside job, we're going to find it. The rest of you," he added, addressing Lexi, Slam, and Duck, "get ready for a little stay back on the home planet."

"Finally!" Duck grinned, speaking more to himself than the others as he stretched. "Vackay."

"This isn't vacation, Duck," Lexi chided.

Duck rolled his eyes. "Pfft! Says you. You don't have to be present for the royal bath time every five hours." He leaned back haughtily and clasped his hands behind his head. "Besides, how long will this take us action heroes?" he asked, stressing the last two words.

"A little longer than you'd expect if Mastermind wants to keep Ralph to the last minute," Tech pointed out angrily, already on his feet. The coyote started for the door. "I'll let you know if I spot anything," he promised and disappeared.

XXXXX

The large tower had ceased to be the headquarters of the Loonatics since they made the move to the planet Blanc, but it remained even now a residential base that could be moved in at a moment's notice. It was completely automated--from the security system all the way down to the cleaning androids that now patrolled the halls--so it was no problem for Tech to send commands from the ship to the shopping-bot to buy groceries for their stay. By the time the Loonatics reached the base, everything was ready for them to settle in.

Of course, hindsight had taught them to look before they leaped, and Tech's scanner detected nothing that smelled of Mastermind. Tech allowed a sigh of relief when the report came back. Not only did this mean that they were safe from surprise attacks, but it meant that none of his machines had been tampered with. His blood still boiled when he remembered how she had turned his own gadgets against him. He might not have minded as much if Duck had accidentally sent his inventions haywire--the crime fighter would not have known better anyway--but it hurt more when a passionate inventor corrupted his babies. It was like she twisted the knife after stabbing him in the back.

The Loonatics landed without incident, and Tech followed the robots as they moved his things to his old room. He supervised as they arranged the delicate equipment, and soon the machines left their maker alone.

Tech unzipped his bag and withdrew his electronic address book. He opened up the S files and reached for the communicator attached to his wall. He quickly dialed in the phone number and waited.

An unfamiliar voice answered. "Hello?"

Tech took on his friendliest tone. "Hi, could I speak to Sarah Smith please?"

"I'm sorry," the woman replied, "but the Smith family has moved out of this house."

"Oh." Tech felt his stomach drop but he pulled himself together. "C-Could you give me a number?"

"I'm sorry," she replied politely. "I would if I could, but I have lost their number, so…"

"I understand. Thank-you." He ended the connection and punched in another number, trying not to panic. "C'mon, c'mon," he urged, but the call went to an answering machine.

"This is Edward Smith," a male's voice answered, "if you are calling about the car, please leave your name and number, and I will try to get back to you." The machine beeped.

"Hi, this is Tech E. Coyote," the Loonatic began awkwardly, aware that he had not spoken to this man for two years. "I used to be a friend of Mallory's if you remember. Could you call me back?" He gave his number and hung up.

Tech slumped into an unoccupied chair and stared at the ceiling, nervousness filling him. He doubted that she would… at least, she would not do that right now... would she? The war was between the two of them, and he doubted that she would bring _him_ into this. And yet...

He exhaled a groan and buried his face in his hands.

"Something wrong?"

Tech started and whirled around. Lexi stood in the doorway, green eyes wide with concern. Tech could not tell how long she had been standing there, but the look on her face told him that she had heard everything.

Tech struggled to find words. "Ye--well, maybe. I don't know," he ended with a sigh.

Lexi stepped in awkwardly and crossed the room. She stood behind a chair occupied by a box of gadgets, and she fingered the backrest with a pink gloved hand. "I couldn't help but hear that you mentioned Mastermind," she said quietly.

Tech nodded glumly, but he could not bring himself to look her in the eye. "Just some old friends."

Lexi grimaced. "Do you think that she would contact them?"

The coyote shook his head. "I don't think she would--probably not right away," he added. "The last two times she got out of prison she didn't contact them, for all I know, but she had other things on her mind then." Tech cringed. "Namely messing with my inventions and helping Optimatus," he growled.

Lexi nodded. She was quiet for a moment, but then she moved the box of gadgets from the chair and sat. She met Tech's gaze probingly and sighed. "I've noticed," she began gently, "that even though Mastermind has been a threat to us, you haven't told us everything you know about her."

Tech looked away. "Well, you can find out anything about her on her file."

Lexi leaned forward and laid a friendly hand upon his shoulder. "Tech, you are the only one who knows how the big-headed witch thinks," she reminded him. "You are the only one of us who actually knows her."

Tech dug his chin into the heels of his hands. His chest tightened unconsciously, and he gritted teeth. "Perhaps not..."

"Perhaps so."

Suddenly, their right arms crackled, and Ace's voice, accented with electronic transmission, came from their communicators. "Yo, Lex. Tech. There's something you might like t'see."

Lexi removed her hand from Tech's shoulder and pressed one of the pink buttons on her suit's bracer. "We're on it." She turned to the coyote, but Tech was already standing. "Talk of the melon-headed devil, huh?"

"We can only hope."

XXXXX

It had been over forty-eight hours since Mastermind had escaped, and the police had had no word of her until six o'clock in the evening in the Loonatics' time zone. It was a hologram--sent directly to a police station, but it was addressed to the Loonatics.

The small image of Mastermind stood leisurely in the center of the circular command table. The villain smiled broadly as if she was merely sending a Christmas message to close friends. "I send my fondest greetings to Ace Bunny," she began friendlily, "Lexi Bunny, Slam Tasmanian, Rev Runner, Danger Duck, and Underdog. I hope I haven't caused you too much inconvenience."

Duck snorted and opened his mouth to speak, but Ace shushed him.

Mastermind laced her fingers together, and she looked innocently at the recorder's camera. "Monologues waste brain power, so you'll have to guess what fun I'll have with my new best friend." Mastermind snapped her fingers, and the camera obediently turned away from her, revealing a chestnut-haired man, gagged and tied to a chair. Ralph squinted without his glasses, but Tech saw he was trying to look brave regardless.

Mastermind walked onscreen and faced the camera. "Remember our little chaperone, Fido?" She reached over and ruffled Ralph's hair. Her hostage winced. "It turns out that Ralph-boy was a student at New Harvard." Mastermind shrugged coquettishly. "Isn't that swell? Shame I never had genuises for companions."

"Could you stop making that grinding sound with your teeth, Tech?" Danger Duck complained.

Mastermind patted Ralph's head with mock-fondness. "Ralph is rather lonely, though," she sighed, but then she brightened. "So, I cordially invite you, Tech the Wonder Pooch, to a get-together I'm throwing in honor of my good friend, tomorrow evening at eight. But what's a party without games?" Mastermind smirked, and her dark eyes gleamed. "Encrypted in this message are two coordinates for where you are to meet us. Choose the right one, and Ralph might have a fun time. You have just a little over twenty-four hours to pick out what you'll wear."

She laughed, and it was grating sound to Tech's ears. "Remember, Bingo, you're the only one invited. Sweet dreams, Hush Puppy." She waved, and the video ended.

"She needs to get herself better writers," Duck decided, unimpressed.

Tech, however, quickly ejected the hologram. He sprang from the dais which the table sat upon and ran up the short staircase to the base's computers. He entered the holo-card and started typing furiously on the keypad.

XXXXX

Minutes passed strenuously, and the computer worked on, hour after hour, guided by the direction of the coyote. Tech remained rooted in front of the screen, sometimes working, sometimes waiting. He ignored offerings of victuals left at his feet, and he refused to let any liquid near the computer. His green eyes hardly left the screen as he tried one encryption-breaking procedure after another. Yet still the code remained unbroken.

"I don't understand it," Tech said aloud three hours later.

"What, Tech?" Lexi yawned from where she sat on the floor playing a card game with Ace.

Tech did not look away from the screen. "This should have been solved by now," he said, perplexed as he tried yet another method.

It didn't make sense. He knew how Mastermind liked to play--she wanted people to come to her before she would strike. When she had adjusted the brain wave amplifier, she had had the university staff come to her. When she had attacked the Loonatics at that construction site, she had waited until they came looking for her. When she had taken over the Loonatic's HQ, she had not attacked until their ship was close. When she was working for Optimatus, she had waited for them to come after Sypher. If she wanted revenge, why go through all this trouble? Why give away the element of surprise? He already knew that whichever coordinates he picked would be a trap, though she had the bait which could not be ignored. It must be something to get him out of the way, and he was the only one smart enough to be a match for her.

What else could she be planning?

"Not to rush you, Tech, "Ace said, interrupting his thoughts. "But is there anything you can do to the computer?"

Tech shook his head. "It's not the computer, Ace. I designed this program myself."

"Then what?" Lexi asked, getting to her feet. "She can't be _that_ smart, Tech."

"You haven't seen everything that her mind is capable of," he told her, finally turning away from the screen. "You can't underestimate her."

"You're right about that, Tech," Lexi answered solemnly, but her eyes gleamed. "For all we know, she could be smarter than you."

"Don't put words in my mouth."

XXXXX

"Analysis complete."

Tech snorted awake. He blinked a bit and leaned forward, not bothering to stifle the yawn that erupted. He studied the screen for a moment, squinting against the glare as morning light filled the room. He typed in the coordinates into the computer's GPS, and he read the addresses. Suddenly, he was wide awake. His heart pounded in his chest, but his insides turned to ice. For a moment he wondered if the computer had made a mistake, and he checked to make sure, but the machine confirmed the coordinates.

He glowered at the screen, feeling his hands shake in spite of himself. Why did she choose those addresses? What was her game? Why lure him there? If she wanted to taunt him, she would have to be a better job than that!

He clenched his fists, but he managed to keep control of the tempest. He stood and stiffly walked down the flight of steps and headed toward the old living area.

The team was already there; Rev and Lexi prepared their own breakfasts at the kitchen counter, while the others sat at the table and dined on cereal. They all looked up as Tech came in, and the coyote saw them react. Tech coughed into his hand and forced his countenance into an easy expression before he ambled over to the kitchen counter.

Ace was the first to speak. "Any luck?"

Tech nodded and smiled. "It's finally broken."

"Way to go, Tech!" Lexi applauded, and Slam and Rev joined in as Tech turned on the drink dispenser.

Slam suddenly grunted a question.

"Nah, I'm just tired," Tech replied, dialing in the instructions. "It took a long time to crack that encryption."

"Should we save the confetti?" Lexi asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head. "Celebrate all you want," he yawned, searching around for a cup as he spoke. "Good triumphs over evil once again."

"And Tech triumphs over Mastermind," Lexi added knowingly.

"So, what are the places, Tech?" Ace asked, shifting in his chair.

Tech turned nonchalantly. "A pizzeria downtown," he told them with a shrug, "and the Heavenly Bean."

"The Heavenly Bean?" Ace blinked.

"Pizza!" Slam exclaimed, his purple eyes lighting up. Even with his care for innocent people and his passion for crime-fighting, the Tasmanian devil always managed to get excited about edible items.

Duck rolled his eyes. "And you'd almost expect her to choose some place dangerous."

Lexi blinked. "The Heavenly Bean… Isn't that the copycat of Nova Bucks?" she asked. "That place always has people walking around."

"And a pizzeria downtown would have traffic as well," Rev added, zipping over to the table and laying his things down. "Of course, Mastermind might be hoping that Tech won't attack her because of the civilians."

"Or she could be expecting to take more hostages," Ace contemplated. "Or she may be hoping that it will camouflage her so she can get away--not that you could hide her head," he smirked.

Tech laughed, but it failed to relieve the tension within him. "It's possible," he admitted. "I'm sure that we will find a high level of electricity at either place."

Ace blinked and raised an eyebrow. "You haven't checked the electric activity yet?"

"Well… I had to come and tell you guys that the code was broken."

Duck paused from gulping down his glass of juice, unimpressed. "So, we choose the place with the most electricity, and we bag her. Piece of cake."

Ace rolled his eyes, but Lexi was thoughtful as she swirled her cereal. "It might be the Heavenly Bean," the doe rabbit mused, not seeming to have heard Duck. "That place would be more packed than any dinky pizzeria, so there would be more of a risk on our part to keep things in line." Slam gurgled, and Lexi nodded. "True, there probably would be more gizmos for her to play with."

"On the other hand," Rev put in, "she might know something about the pizzeria that we don't, or she might be expecting us to choose the Heavenly Bean while she goes to the pizzeria, thus putting Ralph's life in danger, which would be quite clever of her if you ask me."

Slam grunted, and Lexi raised her head in alarm. She turned to Tech. "Do you think that's true?" she asked. "Would she really be planning not to go to either?"

Tech shrugged, but he felt a gnawing in his chest nevertheless. "We can't really afford to take that chance," he pointed out. "She wants me at one of the places, and she's going to make things miserable for Ralph if I don't go. Besides… I really don't think it would be the Heavenly Bean anyway."

"Why?" Ace asked, motioning for Tech to come to the table.

Tech reluctantly carried his meal over and sat down at his old place at the end. He kept his eyes lowered, pretending to be absorbed in the toast, but he was aware that they were all looking at him. "Well, Mall--Mastermind didn't really like that place. The smell of all that coffee gave her a headache, and, well, she hardly went there anyway. She must want me to go to the pizzeria."

"Did you used to go there?" Rev inquired.

"A few times."

"Anything special about that place?"

"It was cheap."

"That's a big incentive to go," Duck cracked.

Ace rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "We don't have to be there until tonight," he considered. "I think we should do a little snooping and secure the area." He tilted his head to the side. "Of course, Mastermind might have some do-hicky that'll detect us. You got anything, Tech?"

Tech thought of what he had brought with him. "Well, I do have some thermal obscuration suits that might do the trick. They can be easily concealed under clothing."

Ace grinned. "Then let's do some price-checking for tonight's dinner."


	3. Of Pizzerias and Other Things

Slam sniffed the air as his "civilian-issued" Zoomatrix rocketed through downtown. Aromas of Chinese take-out, fried fish, Italian restaurants, cheese burgers, and countless others--all ready for the lunch crowd--took turns teasing his nostrils and setting his mouth watering. It tempted him to stop the coyote-made machine and start going door to door, but he resisted the urge. He had a job to do, and it would not get done by ordering the delectable pastries from the bakery he was passing. Still, he could not help but look forward to arriving at the Mastermind's appointed pizzeria, and he licked his lips in anticipation.

"You're going to flood your helmet if you keep drooling like that, Slam," Duck cracked as he glided beside him.

Slam laughed good-naturedly, and he glanced down at the controls of the flying vehicle. According to the screen the pizzeria was only a few blocks and a left turn away. Slam felt his face break into a grin, and he sped the Zoomatrix up a little, forgetting for a moment that he was undercover and liable to draw attention from the police. He and Duck soon zoomed around the corner, and they spotted the restaurant—Rock'n'Roll Pizza, it was called. A picture of a guitarist in black graced the rooftop billboard, and it seemed to be a well kept place, but Slam noticed that the lights were off inside.

The two Loonatics landed in an alley a few buildings away from the restaurant, and Slam removed his helmet. He ran his hand over the light brown area of his head and sucked in the cool air, still adjusting to being without his black-and-purple uniform. Their fighting suits had a built-in cooling mechanism that kept them from getting overheated, which could not be said for the thermal obscuration suit. However, Tech had said that their uniform was too well known for Mastermind not to recognize them--even in disguises--so there he was, wearing the thermal obscuration suit underneath his jeans and jacket. Slam quickly replaced his helmet; Duck, on the other hand, merely tucked his under his arm.

If Slam had been among other Tasmanian devils, he might have said, "Comrade, I think it would not be wise to compromise our position by the incompletion of your suit. Mastermind will suspect something if she detects a floating head on her thermal detector." However, with his limited English vocabulary, he was reduced to saying, "Helmet on."

"No can do, buster," Duck snapped, combing his feathers with his fingers. "I'm not about to turn into roast duck any time soon."

"Helmet on," he repeated. "Ablahwah Big Head?" he added with a quick glance about the pedestrian traffic, meaning to say, "What about our enemy? Surely, you don't want her to discover us!"

"Don't worry about Mastermind," Duck replied, waving the issue aside, as he stepped out onto the busy sidewalk. "She would have to have pretty poor taste to choose this dump."

"Helmet on."

"Don't crack your knuckles at me, Slam," Duck chided, though he was already lifting the headgear. "If Mastermind wants trouble, then she'll have to deal with--"

"Danger Duck?"

Both crime fighters whirled around. A man and a woman, arm-in-arm, were studying Duck; their eyes were glimmering with surprise, excitement, and disbelief. Slam quickly began to laugh. "No Danger," he chuckled, pointing to his comrade. "Just Duck."

"Yes. Indeed," Duck added and cleared his throat. "Of course, I can't blame you for the mistake, what with my good looks."

The woman smiled. "My mistake," she apologized, tossing her black ponytail over her shoulder. Her dark eyes sparkled as she reached into her purse. "Would you mind, though, if I took your picture for my website? John and I are big fans of Danger Duck."

Slam knew from the way Duck's chest swelled up that this would take a while, but he also knew that he could not risk drawing attention by insisting Duck come along. He quickly grumbled a good-bye and turned his attention to the pizzeria down the street.

In a moment he stood in front of the glass doors, staring at a black sign that read:

"CLOSED FOR REPAIRS"

Tech was right then--or was he? For all Slam knew it could be closed for electrical repairs, meaning that Mastermind would not come here. On the other hand, the repairs could be for the pizza oven, and in that case Mastermind might want to use the lack of activity to her advantage. Slam could not begin to understand that woman, and he hoped that Tech was a better judge of her behavior.

Beneath the closed sign a number was printed for further information, and Slam quickly recorded it on the handheld digital database Tech had issued to the undercover team members. He shoved the database back into his pocket, and he pressed his face against the glass. The interior was small, hardly big enough to fit forty customers. He could see a row of booths, a few tables, a music-player that looked like it came from the twenty-seventh century, and a counter. He could just make out a door at the back, and he wondered if it might lead to an exit. He whirled around and headed back to the alley.

"So, then Danger Duck says 'Yoinks and away!'" Duck regaled as Slam passed the trio; the Tasmanian devil figured that he still had another ten minutes before Duck joined him.

The backstreet was deserted, and Slam counted the buildings until he reached the back door of the pizzeria. Slam tested the latch lightly with his super-strength, and he could determine that the lock was a good one. Of course, that would not be a problem for Mastermind if she wanted to get in--or out--yet from what he could see, it seemed that no one was inside now.

He was about to go, but, with a glance upward, he suddenly considered that Mastermind might not be planning to use a door. If he were Mastermind, he might lure Tech in and then have some sort of machine to bring the roof down on the coyote. Slam broke into a run and rounded the corner into the alley and punched the controls to open his Zoomatrix.

"But really," Duck's voice said as Slam hopped in, "sometimes I think Rev is only good for naming the countries of the world."

Slam turned the Zoomatrix on and gently moved it up to his companion and his listeners. Suddenly, the smell of honey tickled his nostrils as he passed the woman. It gave him an idea. "I think I'm in the mood for Chinese, really. This pizzeria appears to be shut down," he excused himself. Of course, with his accent, it sounded very much like, "Awugh, ooh, ooh, eggroll, pfft! Yuh, yuh."

"Do you ever think without commentary from your stomach?" Duck asked, clearly irritated at the interruption.

Slam waved his hand apologetically. "Do finish your invigorating account, comrade. In the meantime you may find my personage at the distinguished restaurant around the corner."

"Whatever." Duck returned to the couple. "Anyway, you should hear him at it--'United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama…'"

Slam moved the controls, and the machine rose higher into the air. He flexed the acceleration, and he zipped down the street. He made a left at the light and turned into the backstreet where it joined with the downtown traffic.

He slowed the vehicle down and lowered it upon the roof, but after a quick check, he could not find anything that might trigger an internal booby-trap. He even performed an interior scan with the computer in the Zoomatrix. It seemed to be an ordinary pizza restaurant that was closed for repairs. Perhaps this was not where Mastermind wanted to go after all?

Still, he set up the surveillance mechanisms just as Tech had instructed. He returned to the Zoomatrix and rode to the Chinese restaurant. Duck had already parked his vehicle right out front, and he was waiting inside.

"Did you stop for a hot dog before coming?" Duck demanded. "While you were off slacking, I found out from that nice lady that the pizzeria is closed for repairs. I bet that's more than you dug up."

XXXXX

"The Heavenly Bean is closed as well," Lexi said after Slam and Duck had finished their report. They were all assembled in the control room around the coyote. "They are undergoing re-decoration and won't open for another two weeks."

"We tried contacting the manager," Rev added. The snap in his voice told his teammates that he had had a long morning. "You wouldn't belie-e-eve how many Sarah Smiths there are."

Tech looked up from the computer screen. "You couldn't find her?"

"Well, I was able to find the assistant manager, but Smith is on vacation. The assistant manager can't remember what hotel she's staying at."

"That seems to be a consistent thing with her."

Ace glanced at the coyote. His eyebrows rose, and Tech could detect a hint of curiosity. "You know her, Tech?"

"Just an old friend," he admitted, turning back to the computer. Systems were working well. The surveillance cameras he had given the two teams were transmitting perfectly. He had a command view of the back and front entrances of the two buildings. "She worked there even when I was in college," he continued. "She was the reason that Mallory hardly went there."

"Should we be concerned for her then?"

"Probably not right now," he replied. "Mastermind will want to settle her vendetta with me before going after anyone else, and even then, that'll probably be you guys."

"That makes everything so much better," Duck snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Why didn't Mastermind like Smith?" Lexi asked. She had been leaning against the railing, but now she had moved beside Tech. One look told him how much she remembered his telephone adventure. "I thought you said she was an old friend?"

The coyote scooted his chair away, pretending to pick at his shoe. "They were at least old… acquaintances," he said slowly, and then added, "Sarah used to torment Mallory endlessly."

"Do tell?"

Tech nodded. "Sarah was always tampering with her inventions, and she even got almost everyone on campus to call Mallory 'Malfunction'."

Lexi snorted into her hand and to steady herself against the computer. Ace, Rev, and Duck snickered, but Slam guffawed outright. Tech, however, gravely continued.

"Besides that, though, they seriously differed in opinion on what to do with special-needs people."

"And Mastermind probably voted for exterminating them," Duck decided. "She always did strike me as being another Hitler."

Tech opened his mouth but immediately closed it. What did he care? He had more important things to do than defend her soiled reputation.

Ace, meanwhile, had been studying the monitors, and now, he leaned back as if he were satisfied. "So, what now, Tech? Where does Shiny want to meet you?"

"It has to be the pizzeria," Tech maintained.

"Bwuh eh sowah ordahnahree," Slam pointed out.

"I know it's ordinary, but I know that's where she wants me."

Ace folded his arms, and he studied the technician. His eyes were overflowing with disapproval at this seemingly unfounded selection. Tech could not blame him for the mistrust. Ace had every right to object; it seemed silly to choose the pizzeria simply because his teammate had been friends with the villain two years ago and still believed to know how she thought. Yet, Tech knew he was right, even under the critical stare of the team leader.

"You just have to trust me, Chief."

With visible effort Ace tried to smile, but the seriousness never left his eyes. "If you're wrong, Tech, it's curtains for Ralph."

Tech snorted. "Ralph? Who said anything about a hostage rescue?"

Lexi tapped his shoulder. "I think that this is what we've been spending the last several hours trying to accomplish?"

Tech stood and faced his five teammates. Each masked face had its own mixture of incredulity and confusion--except Rev, who usually could be counted on to figure things out faster than his feet could run.

"Pretty slick!" he exclaimed with a whistle.

Tech nodded. "Of course, though, even she has limits in her intelligence," he pointed out smugly.

"So, are you going to turn on the subtitles," Lexi interrupted, "or do we have to buy the movie guide to understand what's going on?"

"Oh, you'll understand what's going on," he assured her, smiling genuinely for the first time in days. "And you'll understand just how I'm going to stop her too."

XXXXX


End file.
